Posts Tagged ‘primary’

“I hate all politics. I don’t like either political party. One should not belong to them—one should be an individual, standing in the middle. Anyone that belongs to a party stops thinking.”

Those are the words of renowned science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who died this past June, just as the summer campaign season got underway. I’m sure he believed every word. He would probably rejoice in knowing that our KET candidate programs are over and that the election — unless Hurricane Sandy’s damages cause interruptions to the schedule — is next week.

Throughout the summer, our “Kentucky Tonight” program endeavored to bring you serious discussion on key issues: Medicare, jobs and the economy, and foreign policy among many others.

This fall, candidates in all 6 congressional districts gathered to debate the issues. I thought we had solid, thoughtful, and reasoned conversations. We brought you some new candidates, 3 of the 5 incumbents who are seeking reelection, a couple of independent candidates, and a Democrat and a Republican running for an open seat in the 4th district.

Monday night, candidates in the 6th Congressional District—incumbent Democrat Ben Chandler, Republican challenger Andy Barr, and Independent candidate Randolph Vance—met for the first, last, and only appearance on “Kentucky Tonight.” It was a robust discussion, to say the least.

I want to thank viewers and listeners in the 6th district who took the time to Tweet, e-mail, and call us with your questions, comments, and opinions; for those of you who wondered or asked about how fair I was with the timing of the forum, it breaks down like this:

Chandler-23 minutes, 21 seconds

Barr-19 minutes, 21 seconds

Vance-5 minutes, 15 seconds

My apologies to Mr. Vance…he had a lot of interesting things to say.

As far as criticism of the moderator, it was mixed. Some thought I was partial to Barr or was partial to Chandler, some of you had compliments, some of you probably wished I had stayed home.

One person e-mailed, “It’s very apparent whose side Mr. Goodman is on. He is interrupting guests and even interrupts himself. Where’s his manners?”

My only goal was to be fair to all and have a vigorous discussion of the issues.

The election is over, but there is still a lot to be discussed, analyzed, and debated about the outcome of last week’s primary election results. Party strategists are poring over numbers, Tea Party voters, who stayed home, and who fought through the drizzle and fog to cast a ballot. Both Democratic and Republican leaders are trying to make sure that more than 10 per cent of registered voters (the percentage of people who voted in the primary) go to the polls in November for the general election.

Tonight on Kentucky Tonight, my colleague Renee Shaw will be in the host chair for a discussion on all of this.

At least today, we know who the winners and losers are and which candidates will be on the ballot in November. No doubt, pundits and political observers will label this primary election as one of the most lackluster in state history. Now that May 17th, has come and gone, will campaigning for the November general election be far behind? Probably not.

As they head toward the fall, let’s hope all the candidates—democrats, republicans, and independents—run a vigorous public campaign. Let’s suggest to all of them that the campaigns be based on an honest, energetic debate on the issues. Kentucky has so many needs and our citizens hunger for a dynamic discussion of taxes, pension reform, immigration, education, jobs, and the economy. All of the candidates have their own ideas, platforms, and positions on these and many other topics and the public deserves a robust conversation about them from now until election day on November 8th.

If you missed Kentucky Tonight Monday night, you missed a tantalizing few minutes of debate between our guests on voter apathy, voter participation, and why, according to political analyst John David Dyche, not everyone should always feel compelled to vote in every election. That portion of the program comes at about 20 minutes into the hour-long program.

Also coming up:

On Monday night, May 23rd, Renee Shaw will be in the Kentucky Tonight host chair for a post-primary election discussion at 8/7 pm CT on KET.

On May 30th, PBS will present a special Memorial Day program. Hallowed Grounds provides a rare visit to 22 of America’s extraordinary overseas military cemeteries. The program weaves historical elements with contemporary scenes of the cemeteries and powerful stories about the men and women who are buried in them.

This special airs on Sunday, May 29 at 2/1 pm CT on KET, and on Monday, May 30 at 8/7 pm CT on KET and at 10/9 pm CT on KET2.